Strategies To Fight Exam Stress Achieve Success

Strategies to Fight Exam Stress &
Achieve Success
Will Stringer ACA CTA ICSA
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Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and

Achieve Success
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Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

2012 Will Stringer ACA CTA ICSA & bookboon.com
ISBN 978-87-7681-917-0
Contents
Contents
1 Preface
About the author
Start the clock running
Handling subjects
10
Parallel targets
11
Creating the environment
12
Methods of revising
14
Gaining performance
15
Mind exercises for the exam
17
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9
Contents
With what to write?
18
10 Testing yourself against past exam papers
20
11
Positive think through
22
12
You versus the examiner
23
13 Getting on good terms with the marker
24
14
What to wear in the exam hall?
26
15
Two weeks to go! The timetable.
27
15.1
Calculating available study time
27
15.2
Allocating time to subjects
16
The morning of the exam paper
360
thinking
360
thinking
28
31
360
thinking
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Contents
17
In the exam hall
32
17.1
The warm up and start
32
17.2
Scheduling your time
33
17.3
The four golden rules
34
17.4
Rounding off
35
17.5
Closing out the exam paper
36
18
After the exam
37
19
Planning for when it is all over
38
20
Postscript: On being Dad
39
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Preface
1 Preface
What follows is written for people who want to succeed at Exam taking and know that they have a fight on their hands.
And that is the first point to make - any Exam is a fight of wills, a struggle between you and the people who set the Exams.
That fight takes place each time you take an Exam. It is very important therefore to be at your peak of fitness then, not
before not after.
Fitness is
Knowing what you need to know
Knowing how to answer the Examiners questions
Having a positive attitude (I can win I will win),and
Physically being fit to sit and concentrate for the length of time any Exam paper lasts.
In the 1980s I stayed at a Hotel in Tarifa- Spain. Tarifa is along the coast from Gibraltar and famous for windsurfing. I like
to play tennis too and soon made friends with Tim then a student doctor from a Germany university and a key member of
their tennis team and also for those holidays the hotels tennis coach.
Tim told me a story that still sticks in my mind to today about different attitudes to fitness.
Tim and the rest of the universitys tennis team were at an international competition that included a chess tournament - where
German and UK university students competed. Each morning during the competition both the German tennis teams and
chess teams went for runs - and did stretching and simple exercises in the gym - to keep supple and fit. The UK tennis teams
were also regulars in the gym but there was no sign of the UK chess team.
It seemed the German and UK chess teams had different approaches to fitness. With a marathon week of tournaments in
prospect - the German chess coaches saw being fit to sit as important to the chess teams success as knowledge of chess.
At the end of each section you will find space for your notes.
I hope what follows shows the way through the minefields to the success you want.
About the author:
About the author

Will Stringer is a UK Chartered Accountant and UK Certified Tax Accountant. He has also qualified in recent years as
UK Chartered Company Secretary (company legal advisor) with the Institute of Company Secretaries, and is a member
of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Freeman of the City of London by redemption. He lives in
Hertfordshire, England with his wife and daughter. His son is now away studying at University in Scotland.
Start the clock running
2 Start the clock running

The Clock runs from when you commit yourself to pass a set of Exams. So start to measure off the most important
resource you have - time.
Set the timing of the Exam in your mind and make it part of your day. In your diary start from two weeks before the
Exam date and count backwards to today.
In your private place of study put up a clean sheet of paper listing the countdown. As you mark off the days you can then
assess your fitness against the target date. Equally important the day count reminds you despite any pressures from tutors,
teachers or others not to peak too soon.
YOUR NOTES
Handling subjects
3 Handling subjects
This applies whether you are taking one paper or many.
Look at the syllabus-its your terms of reference.
Assess what percentage of your time to give to each area
Be independent - do not let tutors or others guide you off line - into concentrating on their pet subjects.
Remember you are expected to deliver a total package - to excel in one area and fail in another can be a
failure - whereas to pass well in one area and adequately in others is a pass.
The percentages depend on your previous experience, your skills and your areas needing extra work.
Do not rigidly stick to your first thoughts -often what you think is strong may become weak. Apply those percentages to
the time you are going to give over to study each week. Then set your hourly subject study targets for the weeks ahead.
Earlier I talked about outside pressures - one of these is pre-exam tests - set by tutors or teachers. These in-house tests
can upset your planning - as you can see as your competitors - the group with which you study .It is natural to want to
be top. Time though is wasted by being too good too soon especially if other subjects are not kept up to date.
Keep in mind that the real Competitors the Examiners - will not show their colours until the day of the Exam. Tests are
only practice. So of course revise for tests - but make time to keep fresh the other subjects you will need to know shortly.
YOUR NOTES
10
Parallel targets
4 Parallel targets
Once, maybe twice a month in the period leading up to the Exams set yourself physical challenges. Saving them for when
the pressure is on.
It is true sport is one of the best ways to relax, but most competitive sport measures you against your opponent. Pure
competition- which is what exams are about - measures your ability against fixed standards. Therefore consider setting
yourself physical targets as well as studying targets.
You do not have to become a gym or aerobics fanatic overnight- though it might help. No, occasionally set yourself a
physical target such as to walk or maybe run from home to a local land mark and back again or say swim non-stop for
20 lengths at the local swimming pool.
Make the challenge tough but safe. Repeat throughout in your mind if I can overcome this.... I can pass my Exams.
Where I lived was an old air-field. My challenge was If I can run round the airfield perimeter road without stopping or
walking- however slowly - then I will pass my Exams.
YOUR NOTES
11
5 Creating the environment

I think its true of most of us that we feel at our most relaxed, open and fittest at home, away from stresses and strains.
But for most people who take Exams- the Exam hall is unfamiliar, unfriendly and very uncomfortable.
What I want you to do is to work towards taking your home into the Exam hall. Create an unburstable bubble in which
you can remain relaxed, but attentive.
The way I have done this in the past is to set aside one special place to revise. It should be where you feel at home,
comfortable and have few distractions. Try to do study always in the same place- and take out time - to picture in your
mind whats in the room around you. As you do so - relax your body and breathe gently and easily. Practice remembering
that relaxing sequence in the train or in the bus. You can then use those memories to shut out the unsettling effects of
the Exam Hall. If where you live is noisy then, if you can, stay somewhere quite with friends or relations. Failing that
try the local library. Or block out household sounds by using headphones.
When I completed my final exams for the Institute of Chartered Secretaries - my son was an excitable eight years old -with
a six years old sister who loved to sing- and the exam centre was two hours journey away! At the time I was incredibly lucky
to have a truly supportive line manager and wife who agreed that - before each set of papers - I could stay away overnight
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for Engin
What a difference the day before the exam paper I would time my arrival at the hotel to coincide with the earliest occupation
time got my revision material out onto the bed and spent until late that evening completing my final revision for the day
ahead. In the early morning I covered off final topics and then walked down the road in good time for the morning exam
start time. Having first phoned home and made my apologies to my eight years old and his six years old sister!
YOUR NOTES
13
Methods of revising
6 Methods of revising
I have used with equal success a number of ways to revise.
Taking existing notes and writing them up again in shorter note-lets.
The advantage is that by writing shorter notes you tend to concentrate on key issues and remember the subjects better.
Highlighting key details in manuals and textbooks.
This can reduce what you really need to read again by up to 70%. If you use this method - use it miserly - highlight only
key phrases or words not whole sentences - reducing the text to brief notes.
Dictating notes using mobile phone or IPod Aps (applications) - playing them back on headphones on the
bus and train - or by media connectors in the car.
Its useful here is to picture yourself and the text book as you were dictating the notes. I have even been known to listen
to myself and read the text in front of me at the same time for really complicated subjects.
Making up briefing cards - pick out keywords and underlining subject headings.
Do not depend solely upon your own tutors for revision material. Get copies of other tutors manuals and revision notes.
Buy some expensive subject books and find time to read round the subject or better still look at what is on offer at
http://www.Bookboon.com . It is not always new information which helps - equally important are new perspectives.
I was in a group of 100 or more students at a private study college in London. We were sponsored by our employers to take
tax exams. The exams included a 3 hour paper on Estate Taxes mostly to do about who is entitled to a deceaseds estate
money and property and what taxes are payable when and by who. We were given by the college study guides focused on
what we needed to know to pass all the most likely questions to come up in our exams. It was not always easy to follow I
am not the smartest on the block! So I bought another colleges study guide to compare notes.
Well we were told in no uncertain way by our tutor that one subject was just not coming up that year. The tutor did cover it
off but advised us strongly to drop it from our final revision. I always save something new for the morning of the exam. I
just feel trying to cram again in the last hours what you should know already, can be more stressing than helpful. And guess
what, you are right, that subject was the first on the paper. You could hear the room groan. Me, I gave a silent cheer. I had
spent two hours reading the other colleges treatment of that subject on the train on the way to the exam hall!
In boring lectures think about what the tutor is saying and compare it to your views ask the tutor questions to develop
your own thoughts - even if by the end you have answered the question yourself. It is better to look a little bit foolish in
class - if getting then an answer to your question - means potentially more marks in the Exam.
YOUR NOTES
14
Gaining performance
7 Gaining performance
A winning car is not entered into a race with an overused engine, old oil and the wrong petrol. It is the same for BRAINS
and MINDS. You have got to tune them and feed them with a good source of pure energy. That means the best quality
products with the least additives.
The routes of supply are your eyes and your mouth. Too rich or too poor a basic fuel and the brain will not be fully usable
and your mind will under-perform.
Turning to food there are two important aspects, which work together, diet and the state of the rest of your body. Try to
keep to good simple foods - that means a lean low fat diet, little alcohol and no smoking.
If you do smoke, remember you cannot reach for a cigarette to ease your nerves in the Exam Hall. Start by
not smoking on the days when you attend lectures.
If you can, give up smoking at least six months before the Exams.
If you like to drink socially try to switch to non alcoholic alternatives.
If you are stressed and cannot resist food binges, binge on fruit and salad.
The other factor is exercise. Sitting down and studying for long periods is not a natural state for your body. After a while
you will notice a creeping tiredness. The body needs regular exercise and to relax.
15
Gaining performance
Your body is a precious shell, housing your mind and needs to be in the best condition possible for the day of the Exam.
So fit into your day a simple schedule of about 15 minutes - including at least 10 deep yoga breaths - back, neck and
arm stretches and at least a 5 minute walk outdoors. If in doubt about your health - always check with your doctor and
get guidance from your local gym.
YOUR NOTES
16
Mind exercises for the exam
8 Mind exercises for the exam

For most people the first time they see the Exam Hall is when they step in to take their first paper. That does not mean
you cannot get yourself used to the idea of being there.
When you are in the Exam Hall you wont really take anything in of the building. In six months time you will probably
not even be able to accurately describe the Hall. What will be easily remembered is the emotions.
So take time ever so often to walk yourself through these emotions by imagining all the events of the Exam day. Spend
time experiencing. Feel the emotions. Look through your own eyes and not at yourself from a distance. Imagine seeing
the first question on the exam paper and wondering how to answer it. It may upset you and make you angry or want to
cry. Now increase the intensity of your concentration and see yourself calmly tackling the exam paper -and coming out
of the Exam Hall - saying to yourself - I answered all the questions well!
In time for the Exam you will then have experienced all your doubts, feelings of frustration outside of the Exam Hall. You
will then be able to accept the situation, and react positively to the challenges set by the Examiners.
YOUR NOTES
17
With what to write?
9 With what to write?

A ball-point pen - because most exams require written answers in permanent ink. But then what type of pen? There are
two main criteria - speed and can what you have written be read. The last of these two is the most important. Remember
that your writing is new to the Marker along with a hundred others. If after two minutes your hand writing still cannot be
easily read - you are in trouble. Markers are not tutors who have time to learn your idiosyncrasies. If you cannot bother
to write to be read - no one is bound to mark your paper properly.
I can hear you saying that is not fair! You have to put down on paper all the facts and as many more thoughts in too
little time! There is a conflict between speed and the ease with which your writing can be read.
Select your pen with the same mind set as marathon runners might running shoes. Their running shoes are light to save
energy but strong and well built to last the duration of the race and comfortable so they can run their best race.
18
With what to write?
My choice was something like a BIC or similar pencil like biro - for lightness and speed I avoided felt tips as they tended
to thicken. The downside of a biro is that the grip is thin and after two hours writing I suffered from finger cramps! I
treated the biro like a tennis racket and built the grip up by first binding plastic tape round the base of the biro until
it was a comfortable size and then wrapping round a long soft plaster to finish the grip. I made up a few sizes and tried
them out. For my exams I usually had about three bound biros of different sizes and swapped between them when my
hand got tired or sweaty. I found that the changes of grip - by allowing my hand muscles to subtly alter positions - greatly
reduced tiredness. Nowadays you can find in most supermarkets pencil like biros with grips. It is important to take time
to find out which brand or type work best in exam conditions for you.
YOUR NOTES
19
Testing yourself against past exam paper
10 Testing yourself against past exam

papers
You have got to get into the habit of handling the Exam hall time pressures. The only way to do this is to create that
experience at home and for each subject work through passed Exam Papers.
Put on headphones if necessary - but retreat to a desk or table in a room on your own.
Sit on a hard kitchen chair - get yourself used to what you can expect to be provided with in the Exam hall!
Set out the desk as you will for the Exam.
Put the watch or travel clock you are going to use onto the table and refer to it checking your timing.
From your revision you should know the form of the questions. Chose typical questions. Avoid questions everyone has
agreed were offbeat or badly written. Make your selection from questions about 18 months old and more. If you are lucky
those questions may in part come up again.
There are two distinct reasons for doing past papers - revision, but also getting used to the format of the papers and how
the questions are worded by the examiner.
It is therefore important that you only give yourself as much time as you would be given in the Exam. Calculate that as:
Minutes
Time for Exam paper
180
Cushion
( 20 )
____
160
Marks per paper
100
Available time
1.6 minutes
20 mark question -time to allow 20 x /
32 minutes
Time per mark
The cushion is a buffer to allow for selecting questions, correcting mistakes and pulling your answers together at the end.
For most Exams there will be past papers you can buy with answers attached. The answers should be approved by the
Examining Body.
Frankly those answers for most written papers will be too long winded. They are model answers and are written by people
with knowledge of the subject gained over many years. It is also a form of publicity by the Examining Body and the people
who have written the answers. It is a way of showing how high their standards are. For most written questions there is
just not the time to get onto paper that amount of detail - given the time allocated to the answer.
20
Testing yourself against past exam paper
Model answers are therefore a guide to emphasis and content but not a guide to exam condition standards. Compare your
timed answer to the model answers and mark yourself on the basis of the number of their points you have written down.
YOUR NOTES
21
Positive think through
11 Positive think through

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the pass the harder the Exam.
Bearing this in mind - use your imagination to think forward - to two to three years on from now. You have been successful
having passed your Exams first time. Imagine you could talk to your future self. Of course the future you would want
to help you now. So ask for that help. Tap forward into your future reserves of confidence and knowledge. If future you
will know the answers - then of course you now must have been capable of learning the detail now.
Even in the Exam Hall you can call forward in your mind asking your future self how to tackle difficult points with the
benefit of hindsight.
YOUR NOTES
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You versus the examiner
12 You versus the examiner

The most natural emotions about the Examiner are fear and inferiority. Remember its a fight. To pass first time - if you
are going to bother to sit an Exam - is important. Avoiding taking an Exam twice is the greatest reward of all! So get
your emotions right.
The Examiner is blocking your way forward but is certainly not superior to you. You must recognise you are in one to
one combat. If questions are good compliment your opponent - do not be put off, and counter attack by answering the
question well!
YOUR NOTES
23
Getting on good terms with the marker
13 Getting on good terms with the

marker
The Marker is a judge in a times trial. He or she can only measure what you do in the time available against the standards
that have been set for the time given. And there are two times - the time you are given to answer a question and the time
allowed to mark it.
Bear in mind markers are human. Like most of us markers will favour those who make their job easier. An answer
technically correct but hard to mark will probably get its writer fewer marks than the question partially answered but
written in an easy to mark style.
Note I did not say stylistically good - unless you are taking language based exams -keep it brief, write in short well spaced
notes. Underline using a coloured biro -headings and subheadings and make corrections easy to follow and understand.
You can expect to win the Marker immediately onto your side, because out of 50 - 100 - 150 papers to be marked yours
is easier to read and understand. Also the time you have saved gives you time to get more facts down onto paper!
Facts which are easy to pick out are what the Marker targets. Typically each question has been broken down into components
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Getting on good terms with the marker
You may gain a few points for perfect presentation but you will lose more than this in trying to use good style instead of
writing down markable points or having hand writing that is hard to read.
Tests are a good time to experiment - try answering in GOOD correct sentences - then see the surprise on everyone face
when you use note form next time and your marks shoot up!
YOUR NOTES
25
What to wear in the exam hall?
14 What to wear in the exam hall?

The first step to respect is respecting yourself. Pay that respect to your body.
Keep yourself scrubbed and clean in spite of the pressure leading up to the Exams.
Choose comfortable old clothes and shoes to wear.
Avoid if possible formal office wear.
Comfortable jeans/cords, a soft long sleeved shirt plus training shoes is usually best.
Wear those comfortable clothes during your final revision period - especially when working through past papers. Associate
them with the books you have read and make them very much part of your Exam environment.
I once faced 7 different subject exams in the same week. My strategy became to wear the same shirt for each exam on the
same day, so over the four exam days I wore 4 different shirts. In addition for the afternoon exams I wore a different wrist
band when studying the afternoon subjects and in the afternoon on the day of that exam.
YOUR NOTES
26
Two weeks to go! The timetable!
15 Two weeks to go! The timetable.

15.1
Calculating available study time
Giving yourself a time-out for final revision is important. Remember in terms of time and career prospects repeating an
Exam or Exam Papers is expensive in terms of getting the best jobs or the promotion you want.
So you have counted your days to zero (see start the clock running) and have decided to take two weeks off for final
revision. Set about thinking towards setting yourself a manageable daily timetable. You should aim to handle each major
subject each day, building up overall competence. Giving over say the last 4 days to concentrate on answering past papers.
You will see from what follows that there are breaks of at least 10 minutes built in. Take them enjoy them, turn the radio
on, watch TV have a cup of tea. You need to be in a state of relaxed awareness when studying which means frequent breaks
so you can concentrate. Your body also needs taking care of. So stretch and avoid becoming stiff from fatigue. Start by
working out how much time in the day you can spend on studying.
What follows was my daily revision programme.
27
Two week to go! The timetable.
Hours
PERIOD 1
PERIOD 2
START
8:30 am
FINISH
11:00 am
START
11:15 am
FINISH
12:30 am
minutes
30
15
50
30
50
15
YOUR
NOTES
LUNCH/
EXERCISE
PERIOD 3
PERIOD 4
START
1:20 pm
FINISH
3:10 pm
START
3:20 pm
FINISH
5:50 pm
DINNER
PERIOD 5
PERIOD 6
PERIOD 7
START
6:40 pm
FINISH
8:30 pm
START
8:50 pm
FINISH
10:05 pm
START
10:20 pm
FINISH
11:10 pm
50
___________________
STUDY
TIME
15.2
12 hrs
0 mns
Allocating time to subjects
Next calculate the percentage of your total available study time you need to spend on each subject. Adjust time downwards
on subjects easier for you.
My adjusted allocation was:
28
PAPER
%age
Hours
minutes
10
12
20
24
20
24
15
48
15
48
10
12
READING
10
12
12 hrs
0 mins
YOUR NOTES
____________________________
100%
Now you have to perform a fine balancing act. Generally you are at our most receptive to learn and remember before
lunch and an hour or so after dinner. A lot of homes do start filling up in that last period. So that is when noise and
distractions are most likely to occur. Therefore as a general rule tackle your toughest subject first thing in the morning
and as the day progresses pick up the less demanding subjects.
29
Matching periods with subjects my order became:

YOUR NOTES
Period 1
Subject B
-getting into my stride
Period 2
Subject A
- hungry
Period 3
Subject D
- picking up again
Period 4
Subject C
- at my best
Period 5
Subject E
- after dinner
Period 6
Subject F
- running down
That left me time before bed for general reading.
30
The morning of the exam paper it is all over
16 The morning of the exam paper

Save something new to revise on the way to the Examination Hall. Be selective though. Choose something your tutors
have not covered, but which you think may be a surprise on the paper. Make sure there is enough time to go through it.
Some people like to carry around with them on the day of the exam their notes or points cards. Basically if you do not
know or cannot remember your subject on the morning you never will. Better to choose something fresh to keep you
thinking. (See earlier methods of revising for how I gained a good grade by picking out a subject for the exam day).
Eat a light breakfast and drink as little as possible. Going to the toilet during the exam is a big disadvantage. You will be
upset about waiting to ask to leave the Hall, being watched and losing concentration and time - worst of all you have to
go back!
On the way in to the exam centre buy and eat a chocolate bar for quick energy.
Ensure you are certain to arrive at the Exam Hall with about an hour to spare - in case of delays. Do not travel in a rush
aim to take your time. Find the Exam Hall if its new to you and use the toilets before they are used by everyone elsewhere!
When waiting to be called into the Exam Hall avoid long conversations with friends and groups of people. You need to
focus positively on your battle with the Examiner. Remembering before you go in to check you have left all papers and
notes outside - do not take any chances of being disqualified.
YOUR NOTES
31
In the exam hall
17 In the exam hall

17.1
The warm up and start
Above all follow the instructions given to you by the people monitoring the Exam the invigilators (the people running
the exam administration in the exam centre) . Listen carefully. Keep in mind that after the time allowed for the exam paper
is over in most exam settings you cannot touch your answer papers . You must therefore allow time to sort your answers.
When allowed put your pens, calculators and clock onto your Exam desk. Put them out in the same layout as you have
found best at home. Do not look at anybody or the Exam Hall itself. Concentrate on relaxing yourself. Close your eyes,
breath 10 times slowly and deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth, lifting your rib cage each time to fill
your lungs.
You will hear the lead invigilator say You may begin . Wait until you have completed your relaxation breathing and
then set your clock to 12 oclock .Put a wrist watch as a double check showing the true time next to it. Thereafter do not
worry about outside time just focus on the clock time from your 12:00 oclock setting.
Now read the opening comments on the front of the paper - slowly and very carefully. From reading previous years Exam
papers you should recognise the format - how many questions to answers in each section and where and how answers
are to be written. Misprints and errors can happen - if you do not understand an instruction put your hand up and wait
for the Exam invigilators to come to you. Remember you will be disqualified if you speak to anyone else.
YOUR NOTES
32
17.2
In the exam hall
Scheduling your time
From the front work out - without reading the questions, how much time to spend on each. Writing the times you have
calculated onto the Exam paper against the marks shown for each question. (See also Testing youself against
Past Papers).
Next select the first question on which to warm up. Generally you can assume the toughest questions /section is at the
front. So I tend to go to the back of the Exam paper starting with a short question.
Remember your target is to write down the maximum number of mark winning points.
You may find those questions seem too tough -work forwards until you find the easiest questions to answer.
Always tackle easier questions first.
There is no gain and a lot of loss from answering Exam papers the hard way.
Do not though tackle a major 20%+ marks question without warming up, if you can help it.
Like any athlete you need to slowly build up your pace.
YOUR NOTES
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17.3
In the exam hall
The four golden rules
The first Golden Rule is to

Always to give fully your calculated time for each question - no more - no less .
On a question to spend too little time may mean you have misread the question which is as bad as spending more than
your allowed time on a difficult question.
In terms of difficulty - keep in mind for written answers that the first 60% of marks for a question are easiest - the next
30 % harder.
The second Golden rule is to
Remember that the remaining 10 % is reserved for the 2 hours spent by your tutors writing model answers so initially target for 50 % -70 % on each question.
In all this though keep in mind the third Golden Rule.
Presentation. Leave underlining to the end - when all questions have been answered - but take first steps by
a) Leaving a clear line under each heading, and
b) Using a new page for each question.
There are two reasons for this. Most papers are split up into sections and Markers generally only check one question.
Secondly the gap may let you put in extra points later on.
The final Golden Rule is.
By carefully watching your clock and occasionally comparing it to your wrist watch and the exam centre
clock - make certain you have not spent too much time on any question! Whatever you feel the payback
will not be there!
YOUR NOTES
34
17.4
In the exam hall
Rounding off
You will probably now have about 10 -12 minutes left -allowing for overruns - as helped hopefully by one question you
could handle quickly.
Get all your papers together and check that you have answered only those questions required.
If you started a question and switched to another put a line through the incomplete answer do not rip it up in case of mistakes until the very end.
Make sure question numbers and page numbers are shown on each page. That guarantees at least the marks
for the questions correctly answered.
If you have missed a question or running out of time select the question which needs to be answered - Do
NOT bother with an explanation to the Marker.

Markers can only mark what is there. Begin your answer with - the following sets out the main points to be
considered.
Then briefly list out in the best order you can as many of your thoughts on the subject. Try as hard as you
can to put down enough to justify 50% of the marks due.

It is important though to stop with 5 minutes to go to the finish of the Exam.
Papers must at the end of the exam be in good order so that they can be accepted for marking.
Make that your final priority. Assuming all questions have been answered as required - go through using a
ruler and underline headings in a different colour to your writing pen. Do not overdo this - just enough to
break up the page so that the Marker can easily follow your arguments.
Check again all pages are numbered and the papers have been put together in the right order.
YOUR NOTES
35
17.5
In the exam hall
Closing out the exam paper
In the last few minutes of the exam - go hunting for marks. Whatever you do - do not waste time carefully reading through
your answers. By all means glance quickly though - but remember to look to add to your score - not to waste precious
time correcting grammatical errors. Even for foreign language exam papers!
When the people running the exam - the invigilators - say Stop - stop! Do not take the chance - of gaining half of one
percent more - at the risk of being disqualified.
Throughout the paper you should have been concentrating on maintaining your bubble and remaining calm and confident.
Do not rush out of the Exam Hall. Take your time to get yourself together and walk slowly and quietly out of the Hall.
YOUR NOTES
36
After the exam
18 After the exam

After such mental strain you will be high on adrenaline and tired.
Let off some steam. Telephone or talk to friends and relations - tell them how the day went. If you felt the
Exam was unfair say so.
Do not bottle up your feelings.
Even if there is another paper tomorrow it is probably better to spend time letting off steam and unwinding.
(Most people will be on your side and if you are feeling down will want to help you pick yourself up and get
back the next day in good fighting spirit).
Recognise your emotions let them out. Whatever you do, do not brood or rework answers in your head.
Exams are unfair tests with not enough time!
Think about what you could have done better in terms of presentation and use that for the next paper forget about the detail of your answers - they cannot be changed.
Remember if there are further Exams papers you cannot afford to take anything that may make you feel less
than at your best physically. That includes alcohol, tobacco and sleeping pills.
YOUR NOTES
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Planning for when it is all over
19 Planning for when it is all over

Life goes on after Exams. But take into account the stress and strain. You need a break. Aim to take at least a few days
holiday. Thereafter gradually pick up your normal responsibilities. Taking an Exam does take a lot out of you. It will take a
long time for the body, mind and your routine to readjust to normal life. So take plenty of time to allow yourself to recover.
A neighbour - and Managing Director of a major importing company - told me a long time ago that he considered it best
business practise not to hire any newly qualified accountant until at least two years after final professional exams. He believed
it took time to recover and for people to be in their right minds to make the decisions about their future careers.
A final thought - to carry with you - is that passing an Exam permits you to do something. It is not a certification of
competence - that comes with experience and making your career your hobby.
YOUR NOTES
38
Postscript: On being Dad
20 Postscript: On being Dad

Having taken professional exams and qualified as a UK Chartered Accountant and a UK Certified Tax Accountant - I first
thought about getting onto Paper my experiences of taking exams in the late 1980s. By 1991 I had got together my thoughts
and committed them to Paper. Just in time as it proved - for in December 1992 my son was born he is now nearly 19
years old and at University. To be followed by the birth of my daughter in January 1995 who is now nearly 17 years old.
To a certain extent Id like to claim my part in their success to date on the basis of getting them to read and think about
how my 1991 draft Paper was relevant to their needs. Mum and I are so pleased with their success to date.
However there was something new I did add for them.
I was reflecting on how more and more today pay is performance related and we therefore introduced
my children to
exam pay by performance.

For GCSEs (English exams at 16 years old) the possible grades are A*, A, B, C Mum and I offered a 100% bonus for
each subject score at A*, 80% bonus at A and 60% bonus at B - with no bonus payment below a B.
My son took his International Baccalaureate this summer (similar to A level exams but broader) and we paid a basic
bonus for a minimum 30 point score with extra bonuses for each point on top.
We feel this approach models the external jobs market and moves focus from fear towards thinking of exams as a positive
opportunity. It seems to be working so far!
YOUR NOTES
39

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Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

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Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

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Start the clock running

Creating the environment

Mind exercises for the exam

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With what to write?

10 Testing yourself against past exam papers

Positive think through

You versus the examiner

13 Getting on good terms with the marker

What to wear in the exam hall?

Two weeks to go! The timetable.

Calculating available study time

Allocating time to subjects

The morning of the exam paper

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Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities.

Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers

Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities.

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Discover the truth5at www.deloitte.ca/careers

Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities.

Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

In the exam hall

The warm up and start

Scheduling your time

The four golden rules

Closing out the exam paper

After the exam

Planning for when it is all over

Postscript: On being Dad

We will turn your CV into

Do you like cars? Would you like to be a part of a successful brand?

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Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

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Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

About the author:

About the author

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

Start the clock running

2 Start the clock running

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

Download free eBooks at bookboon.com

Strategies to Fight Exam Stress and Achieve Success

Creating the environment

5 Creating the environment

I joined MITAS because

10 Testing yourself against past exam papers

13 Getting on good terms with the marker

Testing yourself against past exam paper

10 Testing yourself against past exam

Testing yourself against past exam paper

13 Getting on good terms with the